Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) yesterday signed into law a measure “allowing any previously incarcerated person to have the right to vote restored upon release from prison.” The new policy will reportedly re-enfranchise for up to 77,000 people.
* Former Vice President Joe Biden (D) was in Texas yesterday, where he picked an endorsement from Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings (D). With two other Texas Democrats in the presidential race — Julian Castro and Beto O’Rourke — this is a bit of a coup for Biden.
* Following Robert Mueller’s public remarks yesterday, a growing number of Democratic presidential hopefuls have endorsed initiating an impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump. Yesterday, Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) added their names to the list. (For the record, if impeachment proceedings were to begin, second-tier presidential candidates might find it more difficult to break through in the race for the nomination.)
* With the DNC poised to impose tougher standards to participate in the party’s third and fourth presidential debates, only eight candidates — Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, Beto O’Rourke, Amy Klobuchar, and Cory Booker — are currently positioned to make the cut. That may change, of course, as the process unfolds.
* Despite his controversy over lying to police about assaulting a journalist, Rep. Greg Gianforte (R) is gearing up to run for governor in Montana next year. It will be his second attempt: Gianforte lost by four points to incumbent Gov. Steve Bullock (D) in 2016. * Trump argued yesterday that disgraced former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore (R) shouldn’t run for the U.S. Senate in Alabama next year because he can’t win. Moore explained yesterday why he disagrees. * And the “Trump Make America Great Again Committee,” a joint fundraising effort from the Trump campaign and the RNC, launched an online ad campaign this week asking supporters for their input on the “Official Secure The Border Survey.” The accompanying image showed the Trump administration planning to build a border wall across much of the Gulf of Mexico.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
